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Session 3.5
The Tomb of the King Players: Chris (DM), Shane (Indigo), Rick (Rael), Eric (Ulrich), Thayer (Grammarsh), Caspar (Nihilus), Lauren (Aurelae) Upon destroying the third Dog-Headed Mummy in the East Temple during the last adventure, we felt something change within Kazzaran's Valley... as if by destroying the third identical dog-headed mummy in the third almost-identical temple, we had somehow solved some perverse puzzle that had been long forgotten... What could have "unlocked" in this strange new world of ours? LET'S FIND OUT!!! We figured that the change may have happened somewhere in the plains to the north of Hardholme, around the midpoint of the three Temples. Aurelae banded an expedition together to investigate! DAY 1 Before leaving town, Rael buys 2 items from Ralraw's grab bag: a Perpetual Hourglass, which tells the time infinitely, as long as you keep turning it over; and a Ring of Spell Storage (Lvl.0) that can store exactly 1 Cantrip. We leave town on the stryders, having a general idea of where to go. We'll head north to the Twin Pyramids, then go a little further and scout the area for something new that may have appeared. Nihilus sends Griefer flying ahead to scout for potential threats. We spend the day combing the plains for signs of anything out of the ordinary, taking care to avoid the Daemonwhite trees and their flocks of Batdusas. Aurelae and Rael use their knowledge of Nature to scope the terrain; Nihilus uses Investigation to search for signs that something has changed, Ulrich uses Stealth to... check for sneaky hidden cracks haha, Grammarsh uses Animal Handling to send stryders around searching for us (!), and Indigo uses his knowledge of Arcana to attempt to aetherially pinpoint the geographic center of the Temples. All of these were great efforts, but ultimately failed! :( The group makes its way back to the Twin Pyramids to make camp for the night, where Aurelae decides what this landscape REALLY needs is a THIRD pyramid! lol Having a third pyramid in a row will remind her of her favorite constellation back on Davros (Orion -- more importantly, his belt!) She removes a Magic Bean from the Group Bag of Holding and throws it to the ground, bracing herself for a giant pyramid! Buuuuuut, it makes a camp fire instead... A blue campfire! That's eternal! Eternal Blue Campfire! Not content with the campfire and still hoping for that third pyramid, Aurelae grabs another bean from the Bag of Holding and throws it to the ground! This time a large nest with six eggs appears! Hmmm, 6 eggs, 6 adventurers. We each take an egg, hoping something amazing hatches from them later. Nihilus is worried about Zax not getting along with the creature that pops out, so Aurelae promises she'll take care of his egg for him. Grammarsh is hungry, so he decides to cook his egg on the blue campfire! He promptly eats the egg and almost immediately suffers from explosive stomach cramps and 31 Force damage. "Ohhh, feels like Chipotle!" he groans. Aurelae is still not content with the eggs. She wants a pyramid, dammit! She takes a third Magic Bean from the Group Bag of Holding and throws it! Finally! A large pyramid shoots up out of the ground!!! Wait, it's taking the blue campfire up with it! The campfire is now perched directly on top. The PYRAMID OF THE BLUE FLAME, everyone! The group makes camp. Grammarsh has moved on from stomach cramps to shitting blood; Nihilus tries to dispel the magic effect, which doesn't work. Indigo hears Aurelae muttering excitedly to herself, "Hmm Priestess of the Blue Flame, yess..." DAY 2 Rael begins the morning by cooking a nice English Breakfast, to which Grammarsh becomes extremely queasy (apparently we had regular eggs in our provisions all along? lol) Making our way back to the fields for investigation, Ulrich whips out his Rod of Lordly Might and transforms it into a tall ladder before our eyes; he then offers to allow Aurelae to climb it so that her Eleven eyes can get a better look at the terrain. She's skeptical about climbing up, but Nihilus reassures that he'll Levitate her if she falls. Getting back to searching, Aurelae utilizes her knowledge of Nature again, Ulrich uses Survival to track the land, Nihilus uses knowledge of History that he's gain about this area, Grammarsh uses his Perception (his eyes are clear now from all the tears he shed last night, ya'll!), and Indigo and Rael both use knowledge of Arcana to aetherially pinpoint the center of the Temples. The day goes by, and it's not looking good, but our skills bring us to the correct location! Because as it begins to become dark outside, we notice something we hadn't noticed before. At one of the Daemonwhite trees we've been avoiding, there is a faint white light glowing from within it, just visible in the twilight... The tree appears very rotted with a giant hole in its center, and is also chock full of Batdusas... Rael casts Plant Growth on the tree to try to make it thicker with wilder branches to slow the Batdusas, in case they wake and attack us. Aurelae casts Pass without a Trace to make the party invisible. We walk quietly to the tree to better investigate it. It's pretty giant -- about 15-20 feet around. The center of the tree is definitely rotted away, and the light is coming from inside the hole. The party begins arguing about whether or not we should enter the tree, then Rael just walks on inside, haha. The ground inside gives way partially, but Rael doesn't fall through due to his strengthening of the tree earlier! Looks like there's a deep, deep, DEEEEP hole down; we can't see the bottom! To descend the gaping hole, the party contrives an overly-complicated solution wherein Rael clicks the immovable rod into place, they tie rope from either end of the rod, and Rael, Grammarsh, Ulrich, and Nihilus hold onto the rope. Indigo holds onto the rod and extends his bat wings to feather-fall in increments, clicking and un-clicking the Immovable Rod, causing them to awkwardly descend in jerks and jolts. Aurelae raises an eyebrow and simply walks vertically down the side of the chasm wall in her Spider Slippers. At about 300 ft. down, the hole opens into an even larger vertical chasm -- still no bottom to be found! The walls are covered in bio-luminescent mushrooms, which are giving off the light we've been seeing. There's also a constant updraft from tiny natural holes in the chasm wall. Nihilus becomes excited at the vision of new mushrooms and must collect them! To reach the wall, he casts Levitate on himself and pushes off toward Aurelae. To avoid being lifted by the updraft, they tie a rope around both their wastes, and Nihilus lightly glides above Aurelae, like a festive Gnomish balloon. lol Picking mushrooms all the while! Upon FINALLY reaching the bottom after who knows how long (Deeeeeep holllleeeee), there are lots more mushrooms, and the spores grant the party +6 temp. HP. Nihilus collects more of them! Ulrich whips out his Rod of Lordly Might again, and his finger teases at (and then presses!) button #6! This tells him that we are a whopping 2 MILES underground! On the north side of the chasm's floor, there's a hallway that leads onward... The hallway is paved with gold on the floor, walls, and ceiling. At the end is a giant golden door with Kazzaran's face sculpted in fine detail. The party checks for traps and, finding none, ventures through the doorway. They enter a square chamber that's about 60 ft. across. It's fully gold and faintly lit; Ulrich removes some of his bandage wrapping to help light the room. There are 4 large dog-headed statues in each corner of the room that sort of shimmer in the light. It looks sort of like an Egyptian tomb (if those existed in this world). The walls are 30 ft. high, and there are giant murals all over the walls, depicting various scenes of Kazzaran and the Masters. One particularly interesting one shows the Masters holding up a giant crystal as Kazzaran flies up to a temple. Nihilus performs an Arcana check on one of the statues, but doesn't notice anything magical. Rael tries to pry up one of the gold plates from the floor, but stops when Aurelae admonishes him. Ahead of them is a giant arch built into the wall with three keyholes in the center: one shaped like a red square, another like a yellow triangle, and a third like a blue orb... Well well well, we just happen to have all three keys!!! Indy takes the yellow triangle key in hand, Aurelae takes the red square key, and Rael takes the blue orb key. In unison, they each insert a key to unlock the path forward. But instead, the door behind them slams shut and the dog-headed statues come to life! Combat Time! Combat - Party vs. 4 Dog-headed Statues (M1, M2, M3, M4) Round 1 # Aurelae fires an arrow into M2. # Ulrich whips out his Rod of Lordly Might and caresses (and presses!!) the button to turn it into a flaming sword! He runs to M2 and discovers, to everyone's horror, that they're shimmering because they're actually composed of thousands of worms! He attacks the worm-mummy-dog-statue with his sword. # M1 walks over to the party, worms falling off of it all the way, and attacks Rael, then drops a worm on him. The worm begins to bite and try to burrow under Rael's skin, but Rael reacts with Hellish Rebuke, burning the worm to death with a scream of horror! # Nihilus casts Blind on M1, then Misty Steps to the corner it was just occupying. # Grammarsh SMASHES the fuck out of M1 (70 damage with Frenzy and Rage!) # M4 runs from the other side of the room to where Nihilus is now standing (these worm monstrosities are quick!) # Indigo uses his Staff of Frost to cast Ice Wall on M3, trapping it inside an ice dome in its corner on the other side of the room. # M2 smashes Ulrich, and a worm falls onto Ulrich's skin! # Rael casts Flame Wall as a cylinder around the party to protect us against the worm-dog-statues. He also casts Mantle of Inspiration to give us 8 temp. HP. # M3 is trapped in the ice dome and smashes at it with its fists. It almost escapes, but hasn't been able to break the ice yet. Round 2 # Aurelae uses her Staff of Thunder and Lightning to cause a cascade of lightning to flash out and strike both M1 and M4! Nice! # Ulrich attacks M2 again, then the worm on his skin BURROWS UNDERNEATH HIS SKIN. It promptly disappears in there, and we have no idea where it is now... # M1 is blind, and it walks THROUGH the fire wall, taking damage, then it attacks Indigo. A worm falls onto Indigo's skin! His concentration is broken, and his Ice Wall shatters and disappears, freeing M3. # Nihilus casts Tidal Wave on M4, but misses. He then Misty Steps back to the party, to the relative safety of the flame wall. # Grammarsh SMAAAAASSSHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! (75 damage to M1!) # M4 follows Nihilus, walking into the flame wall, and attacking him. # Indigo casts Chaos Bolt on M1, dealing Fire damage. He then has a mini panic attack as the worm on his skin burrows underneath and disappears into his body. # M2 smashes Ulrich again and drops another worm on him! # Rael yells "SORRY EVERYONE!" and quickly casts Thunderwave THROUGH his friends to hit M4 on the other side! (RUDE!) Luckily, everyone except M4 saves the throw and only takes 8 damage each. Rael then immediately uses Mantle of Inspiration to heal each of us for 8 HP. lol M4 is pushed away, outside the flame wall. # M3, now freed from the ice prison, runs across the room to where Ulrich and M2 are standing! Round 3 # Aurelae fires an arrow into M2! # Ulrich uses Radiant Consumption on M2 and M3, causing searing light to emanate from himself, causing radiant damage. It sort of misfires and doesn't do much damage, though, but it WAS enough to kill the worm crawling around on his skin! But the worm inside his body starts biting at his brain! # Nihilus casts Slow on all three remaining dog-worm-statues. # Grammarsh steps out of the flame wall and smashes M4 for 75 damage! # M2 attacks Ulrich, but misses! # Indigo runs out of the flame wall and uses the Staff of Frost to cast Cone of Cold on M4! The worm in his body then bites away at his brain! # M2 smashes Ulrich again, but Ulrich is able to dodge a worm that almost lands on him. # Seeing that Ulrich desperately needs healing, Rael has a momentary inner conflict and epiphany, then runs out of the flame circle and casts Cure Wounds to heal Ulrich! # M4 moves to attack Indigo, inviting an opportunity attack from Grammarsh. SMASH SMASH! Grammarsh ends M4 permanently. Round 4 # Aurelae fires 2 arrows into M2 Thwap! Thwap! It's dead! # Ulrich attacks M3, finally killing it. # Nihilus casts Tidal Wave, but concentrating it into a stream, like a water gun at the last remaining enemy. # Grammarsh walks up to the final one and smashes it to pieces. All dead!!! # The worms inside Ulrich and Indigo turn to black goo and leak out their ears. Rael offers a lacy handkerchief to Indigo. "You can uh, go ahead and keep that..." The Chamber A secret door appears in the archway and opens before the party, leading to another golden room that's faintly lit. At the far end of the room is a humanoid figure chained up. The chains extend from it in multiple directions and rise to the ceiling and are glowing red. Upon closer inspection, the figure appears to be a dead Illithid! It's naked, but wearing a simple metallic headpiece, it's mouth tentacles are decayed away, and its eyes are gouged out -- the sockets scabbed over. Nihilus wants to check if it's really dead and uses his Helm of Detect Thoughts. Upon reaching out, the Illithid jolts up! It's still alive!!! "Who's there?! Is it the Nartox?! What do you want?!" The Illithid calls out to us through its mind, and the metallic crown on its head immediately begins to glow bright red, causing the decrepit mind flayer to scream out in pain. "No, we are friendly adventurers," Aurelae reassures him. Rael moves closer and casts a low-level healing spell to help stabilize him and to show an act of good will. To avoid the crown's punishment, the mind flayer begins speaking with his mouth in Abyssal, instead of his mind. Aurelae and Indigo relay information to the rest of the party. We tell him that we are new residents to the Valley, and that we came through the Void. He has no idea what the "Void" is, though. He does, however, in turn reveal who he is and why he's down here... * His name is Master Yiv, and he was once a great King of the Illithid. He ruled for 300 years atop his throne in the great City of Zalatar, protected by his Seven Honor Guards -- vicious dog-headed guardian beasts of his own creation. * He and his people worshiped Kazzaran, The Great Mother of the Annunkai. "A shimmering celestial beauty!" He can still see her in his mind's eye. (The crown glows brightly, as he screams in pain.) "What have they done to her...?!" * They slept peacefully in her shadow, in the Valley, for many years. They built three shrines to her on the highest peaks of the Valley. They created the lesser races as a means to offer her sacrifices. In return, she kept them from becoming "their worst selves." She fed them as if they were her own children. Maybe they were her children? * Yiv was eventually removed from power by the usurper, Dayvas, who thought that harnessing the power flowing through Kazzaran's veins would better serve the Illithid. When Dayvas attacked, he killed three of the Honor Guards and corrupted the other four. the 3 dog-headed mummies, then the 4 dog-headed monstrosities made out of worms. They imprisoned him here, to be guarded by his own creations. * They imprisoned Kazzaran beneath the City of Zalatar to the south, and are using her... corrupting her celestial majesty to terrible ends... using her like a tool... * He's being kept alive by these glowing chains and a large glowing crystal octahedron that's suspended above him. The chains seem to be crafted of enchanted Lavos metal. * He calls the large crystal a "Mind Flute," and says this crystal was once used to summon Kazzaran to the temples for sacrifices. They placed it here to taunt him. The party then discusses and eventually begins to flat-out argue over what to do with Master Yiv. Grammarsh wants to kill him, because he's a mind flayer. Indigo wants to save him, because he has a wealth of knowledge that may help us in learning more about Kazzaran and the other Illithids. Aurelae wants to kill him, because he seems to want to die, and it would be a mercy kill; he's also potentially dangerous. Rael wants to save him, because he's horrified of the idea of killing a sentient life that's chained up and defenseless. Ulrich wants to save him, because he's a powerful source of knowledge of the world and the other Illithids . Nihilus remains quiet and won't share his opinion; he's conflicted in that he doesn't want to hurt anyone, but he realizes that an Illithid is clearly a dangerous being. As the arguing continues on and on and on, Grammarsh sits down and begins eating some leftover ribs he had from a barbecue the other day. Master Yiv wants us to put him out of his misery. In response to the argument of leaving him chained here for now so we can consult with our colleagues at home, he goes into a rage. But bringing him back to town would cause panic on top of everything else. The final vote eventually is to kill him. Aurelae apologizes to Master Yiv, and he reassures her that'd he'd eat us the first chance he got. Indigo insists on being the one to kill him, having been the flip-flopper on the vote. The Ars Goetia lifts, opens, the black maelstrom pulls the Illithid into its pages, and Indigo puts the book away. The chains fall to the floor, and the crown, left in midair, falls to the floor and rattles around a little too long, filling the empty room with a deafening ringing sound as it slowly comes to a clattering rest. Each party member takes a chain for themselves, and the crown and Mind Flute are placed gently into the group Bag of Holding. They then exit the prison, somehow climb their way back up the 2-mile chasm, and return to Hardholme.